Monthly Archives: April 2016

I was going to use the term ‘politically correct’ in the title of this post. It’s a term I despise. Why? Because it reduces words that cause pain and shame to things that sound more like grammatical errors. Here are some things that aren’t ‘politically correct’: discriminating against people because of their race, gender, age, class or anything else that makes them different. If you’ve been demeaned in this way, you know how it stings. Trivializing that kind of sting through language is just…..

Today a friend on Facebook reminded me that I’ve been promising a post about being vegan, but have yet to deliver. For those of you who have been waiting, thank you for your patience. I hope this post measures up after all this time. If not, please leave a comment and I’ll respond. My Story I’ve been vegan for about 32 years and mainly vegetarian for close to 40. When I left high school, I didn’t really know how to…..

It may sound trite, but Earth Day isn’t just another day. It’s a day when we can commit to helping to heal this beautiful planet we all depend upon. She is counting on every single one of us. So whatever we’re already doing, it’s time to take it up a notch. We have so much power, but we need to use it. We can turn down the heat; plant a garden; walk, cycle or take a bus; eat fewer animal products…..

Do you get migraines? I do, and quite frequently. But I haven’t had one for a week, ever since I started a congee cleanse on the advice of my Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioner. ‘Cleanse’ is a bit of a stretch, actually. I love delicious food, and the idea of eating only overcooked rice with a few simple ingredients was torturous. I ate congee a few times a day but also ate many other very non-cleansing foods. Even this half-hearted attempt at a cleanse…..

Truth is stranger than fiction…and more difficult to write about. I remember reading that Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. said his previous works of fiction were just a lead up to being able to write Slaughterhouse Five. That novel was semi-autobiographical. It was his response to the fire bombing of Dresden in World War II, which he had experienced first hand as a prisoner of war in an underground slaughterhouse. When I first read that, I hadn’t yet written a novel and didn’t understand what he…..

Lurking beneath thoughts of calories, carbs and coupons is a deeper meaning of food. These thoughts tend to commodify our food, when really the food we eat is our deepest connection to our planet. Our food connects our physical well-being with the well-being of planet, workers and other species — or not. If it wasn’t so sad, it would be laughable the way some supermarkets try to make everything look like it was fresh from the farm. Labels like ‘natural’ and ‘farm fresh’ mean nothing,…..